The Internet Computer blockchain, a product of the Dfinity Foundation, is set to introduce smart contract capabilities to Bitcoin. This step will open doors to new real-world applications and uses for the leading cryptocurrency.
Internet Computer Partnership with Bitcoin
The IC blockchain will use its integrated chain-key cryptography to merge with Bitcoin, introducing smart contracts. According to an announcement by Dfinity Foundation, these contracts will be hosted directly on the IC blockchain.
To make this possible, Dfinity Foundation’s Founder and Chief Scientist, Dominic Williams says IC smart contracts must access Bitcoin’s liquidity. He also adds that Bitcoin will gain powerful smart contract features without the cumbersome and insecure trust bridging process.
The presence of smart contracts on the IC blockchain will have related BTC addresses, guaranteeing them direct access to every transaction on the BTC blockchain. This will be beneficial for Bitcoin because the transactions will complete faster.
To put things into perspective, it takes only two seconds for a transaction to finalize on the IC blockchain. On the other hand, it takes around 40 minutes on Bitcoin. Integrating Internet Computer blockchain and BTC means Bitcoin banks will be used directly on the platform, enabling quicker transactions.
Dfinity Foundation Investing in Advanced Blockchain Technology
In March this year, the Dfinity Foundation launched its developer ecosystem program worth $223 million. This program supports the development of advanced blockchain technology and smart contracts.
Launched in 2014, the project has received massive financial backing from some of the most prominent crypto capitalists, including Polychain Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The foundation’s latest efforts are part of its plan to decentralize finance and make Bitcoin more accessible to standard users.
Dfinity Foundation has made significant steps in its aim to achieve the goals. In January, it unveiled its take on smart contracts involving Bitcoin using a simple blockchain with native bridges.
The driving factor behind Dfinity’s investment in advanced blockchain technology is to make crypto transactions faster. With a partnership with Bitcoin already in place, other cryptocurrencies will follow suit. Currently, Bitcoin has one of the slowest transaction speeds of over 40 minutes. However, the slow speed is also because of the high number of transactions on the platform.
More Apps for the Upgrade
Since Bitcoin announced it would upgrade to Taproot later in the year, many developers are delivering new apps to much the demand.
The upgrade has received massive backing from mining nodes, preparing the cryptocurrency for the change in November. Even though Bitcoin didn’t achieve all of the tenets projected in Nakamoto’s white paper of 2008, it has become one of the most prominent alternatives.
Nakamoto predicated Bitcoin will be an electric cash system, and it is so close to that. The journey has finally been tremendous, with Bitcoin hitting a full market cap of $1trillion in May.
This happened before it took a hit through a considerable market readjustment. Nonetheless, there is significant growth due to ever-present institutional support.